GLEN MILLS, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Axalta Coating Systems (NYSE: AXTA), a leading global supplier of liquid and powder coatings, is proud to sponsor the painting competition at Rush Truck Centers’ 11th annual Tech Skills Rodeo, held this week at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas. Axalta coatings experts will judge the rodeo’s painting skills competition.
Rush Truck Centers operates the largest network of commercial vehicle dealerships in North America and they use Axalta’s Imron® Elite polyurethane products to repair and maintain their heavy-duty fleets. For the past several months, Rush Truck Centers’ technicians from across the United States have prepared to qualify for the semi-final round of the Tech Skills Rodeo by completing a series of written tests. Eligible technicians that advance to the rodeo will use Imron Elite products to paint and repair truck parts as a demonstration of their expertise.
“We are honored Axalta has joined Rush Truck Centers as a Platinum Sponsor for our 11th annual Tech Skills Rodeo,” said Mike McRoberts, Rush Enterprises Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. “Axalta’s involvement in our rodeo helps honor our technicians, including those who work in our collision centers, for their great work and support to our customers. For more than 13 years we have been proud to offer Axalta’s tough and beautiful Imron finishes to our customers, as they have a proven track record of quality and durability.”
“Axalta and Rush Truck Centers work closely throughout the year to prepare their technicians and enhance their skill level,” said Marcelino Fernandez, Axalta National Fleet Manager. “We hold ‘Lunch and Learn’ training sessions to introduce new products and express the importance of following standard paint repair procedures to help ensure the highest quality maintenance is performed at Rush Truck Centers’ dealerships.”
Axalta coatings experts will select division winners and a grand champion based on a critical evaluation of the technicians’ knowledge from the written test assessments as well as their performances during the technical painting session. The competition closes with an awards dinner where the winners will be announced.
To learn more about Axalta Imron Elite and other commercial transportation products, visit axalta.us/transportation.
About Axalta Coating Systems – Celebrating 150 Years in the Coatings Industry
Axalta is a leading global company focused solely on coatings and providing customers with innovative, colorful, beautiful and sustainable solutions. From light OEM vehicles, commercial vehicles and refinish applications to electric motors, buildings and pipelines, our coatings are designed to prevent corrosion, increase productivity and enable the materials we coat to last longer. With 150 years of experience in the coatings industry, the approximately 12,800 people of Axalta continue to find ways to serve our more than 100,000 customers in 130 countries better every day with the finest coatings, application systems and technology. For more information visit axaltacoatingsystems.com and follow us @Axalta on Twitter and on LinkedIn.

John W. McRoberts, the Company's Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, noted, "We continue to source attractive growth opportunities for an evolving investment pipeline that is expected to contribute to our growth during 2017. Our negotiations are focusing on acute care and skilled nursing facilities of both new and existing operators with small portfolios and single-property transactions. We have remained disciplined in allocating capital to investments backed by strong local and regional operators that are more nimble and better equipped to navigate today's healthcare environment. The positive trend in our portfolio results demonstrates the benefits of this strategy."
Financial Results for the First Quarter of 2017
The completion of the IPO in October 2016 provided the Company with a meaningfully different and simplified capital structure compared to prior periods. The IPO net proceeds were used to redeem all outstanding preferred stock, including a $6.3 million redemption premium, and pay down borrowings on the Company's secured credit facility.
The Company believes the use of IPO proceeds and related higher share count, combined with the impact from the replacement of the tenant at Lakeway Hospital with Baylor Scott & White Health ("BSW Health") effective September 1, 2016, makes year-over-year comparisons less meaningful, particularly on a per share basis.
Net income attributable to common stockholders for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 was $4.5 million, or $0.14 per diluted common share, compared with net income attributable to common stockholders of $1.0 million, or $0.09 per diluted common share, for the same period in 2016. Consolidated total revenues for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 were $14.3 million, compared with $14.8 million for the same period in 2016. Total revenues for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 included approximately $0.9 million in additional revenues from Lakeway Hospital for deferred rent due under the lease with the prior tenant. The difference was partially offset by the $0.2 million in additional interest on the new mortgage note investment in the first quarter of 2017.
FFO for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 was $8.1 million, or $0.26 per diluted common share, compared with $4.7 million, or $0.43 per diluted common share, for the same period in 2016. FFO was positively impacted by the elimination of preferred stock dividends totaling approximately $2.5 million and lower interest expense of approximately $1.6 million. These increases were partially offset by lower total revenues attributable to the Company of approximately $0.3 million and higher general and administrative expenses of approximately $0.4 million.
AFFO for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 was $8.6 million, or $0.27 per diluted common share, compared with $5.5 million, or $0.50 per diluted share, for the same period in 2016, as a result of the elimination of the preferred stock dividends and lower cash interest expense of approximately $1.2 million, partially offset by lower total revenues, excluding straight-line rent, attributable to the Company of approximately $0.4 million.
As previously announced, the Company closed on a new $425 million secured credit facility on February 10, 2017. The amended and restated credit agreement provides for a $300 million secured revolving credit facility and a $125 million secured term loan. The amended credit facility replaced the Company's $300 million secured revolving credit facility, which was scheduled to mature in November 2017. Amounts outstanding under the amended credit facility bear interest at LIBOR plus a margin between 1.75% and 3.00%, depending on the Company's leverage, for both the revolving credit facility and the term loan. The revolving credit facility matures in February 2021, with one 12-month extension option, and the term loan matures in February 2022.
As of March 31, 2017, the Company had gross real estate investments totaling approximately $517.5 million, which was comprised of $495.0 million in 24 healthcare facilities and $22.5 million in two mortgage notes receivable collateralized by healthcare-related real estate.
As previously announced, the Company made a $12.5 million investment in Advanced Diagnostics Hospital East, an acute care surgical hospital in Houston, Texas. The investment is in the form of a newly originated interest-only loan with an interest rate of 9.6% and secured by a first mortgage on the hospital. Beginning on October 1, 2017, the Company will have the exclusive option to purchase the hospital for $12.5 million and enter into a 15-year triple-net lease at an initial annual lease rate of 9.6% with annual escalators. During the term of the lease, the Company will have the right of first refusal to acquire and/or the option to fund any new medical facility development involving the hospital or its management team. The interest-only loan matures in the first quarter of 2018, with automatic extensions until September 30, 2019 if the Company does not exercise its purchase option prior to maturity.
In April 2017, the Company entered into a new master lease arrangement, effective March 20, 2017, with a subsidiary of Fundamental Healthcare ("Fundamental") for four facilities and guaranteed by THI of Baltimore. These facilities were previously leased to subsidiaries of Fundamental under separate triple-net leases. Pursuant to the master lease, the Company also agreed to make available up to a maximum amount of $11.0 million for Fundamental's expansion of the 130-bed Mountain's Edge Hospital, an acute care hospital in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In addition to Mountain's Edge Hospital, the remaining facilities covered by the master lease include the 39-bed Horizon Specialty Hospital of Henderson, a long-term acute care hospital in Las Vegas, Nevada, the 120-bed Physical Rehabilitation and Wellness Center of Spartanburg, a skilled nursing facility in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and the 142-bed Mira Vista Court, a skilled nursing facility in Fort Worth, Texas.
The new master lease provides for an initial aggregate annualized base rent of $8.5 million. Base rents will increase by the lesser of the percentage increase in the consumer price index and 1.5% on the first three anniversaries of the master lease and, on each anniversary thereafter, by 2.0%. The initial term of the master lease for each property was reset, with the Mountain's Edge and Horizon hospitals having initial terms of 15 years with expirations in 2032, and the two skilled nursing facilities having initial terms of 12 years with expirations in 2029, each with two five-year renewal options.
On May 3, 2017, the Company's Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $0.21 per share for the first quarter of 2017. The dividend will be paid on May 31, 2017 to stockholders of record as of May 17, 2017.
The Company reaffirmed its previously issued guidance ranges for the year ending December 31, 2017: net income attributable to common stockholders in a range of $0.60 to $0.64 per diluted common share; FFO in a range of $1.07 to $1.13 per diluted common share; and AFFO in a range of $1.09 to $1.15 per diluted common share.
A reconciliation of projected net income attributable to common stockholders per diluted share to projected FFO and AFFO per diluted share is provided as follows:
The Company's guidance for 2017 is based on the following assumptions:
The Company will host a conference call and live audio webcast, both open for the general public to hear, on May 9, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. Central Time. The number to call for this interactive teleconference is (412) 542-4116. A replay of the call will be available through May 16, 2017 by dialing (412) 317-0088 and entering the replay access code, 10105005.
The live audio webcast of the Company's quarterly conference call will be available online in the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at ir.medequities.com. The online replay will be available approximately one hour after the end of the call and archived for approximately twelve months.
MedEquities Realty Trust (NYSE: MRT) is a self-managed and self-administered real estate investment trust that invests in a diversified mix of healthcare properties and healthcare-related real estate debt investments. The Company's management team has extensive industry experience in acquiring, owning, developing, financing, operating, leasing and monetizing many types of healthcare properties and portfolios. MedEquities' strategy is to become an integral capital partner with high-quality and growth-oriented facility-based providers of healthcare services on a nationwide basis, primarily through net-leased real estate investment. For more information, please visit www.medequities.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements provide our current expectations or forecasts of future events and are not statements of historical fact. These forward-looking statements include information about the Company's 2017 guidance and related assumptions, strategic plans and objectives, potential property acquisitions and investments, anticipated capital expenditures (and access to capital), amounts of anticipated cash distributions to our stockholders in the future and other matters. Words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "will" and variations of these words and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond our control, are difficult to predict and/or could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent uncertainty and may ultimately prove to be incorrect or false. For a description of factors that may cause the Company's actual results or performance to differ from its forward-looking statements, see the sections entitled "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Risk Factors" included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on February 27, 2017, and other documents filed by the Company with the SEC. You are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Except as otherwise may be required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or actual operating results.
We consider the following non-GAAP financial measures useful to investors as key supplemental measures of our performance: funds from operations attributable to common stockholders ("FFO") and adjusted fund from operations attributable to common stockholders ("AFFO").
FFO is a non-GAAP measure used by many investors and analysts that follow the real estate industry. FFO, as defined by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts ("NAREIT"), represents net income (computed in accordance with GAAP), excluding gains (losses) on sales of real estate and impairments of real estate assets, plus real estate-related depreciation and amortization and after adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures. Noncontrolling interest amounts represent adjustments to reflect only our share of depreciation and amortization. We compute FFO in accordance with NAREIT's definition, which may differ from the methodology for calculating FFO, or similarly titled measures, used by other companies.
Historical cost accounting for real estate assets implicitly assumes that the value of real estate assets diminishes predictably over time. Since real estate values instead have historically risen or fallen with market conditions, most real estate industry investors consider FFO to be helpful in evaluating a real estate company's operations. We believe that the presentation of FFO provides useful information to investors regarding our operating performance by excluding the effect of real-estate related depreciation and amortization, gains or losses from sales for real estate, including impairments, extraordinary items and the portion of items related to unconsolidated entities, all of which are based on historical cost accounting, and that FFO can facilitate comparisons of operating performance between periods and between REITs, even though FFO does not represent an amount that accrues directly to common stockholders.
Our calculation of FFO may not be comparable to measures calculated by other companies that do not use the NAREIT definition of FFO or do not calculate FFO per diluted share in accordance with NAREIT guidance. FFO should not be considered as an alternative to net income (computed in accordance with GAAP) as an indicator of our financial performance or to cash flow from operating activities (computed in accordance with GAAP) as an indicator of our liquidity.
AFFO is a non-GAAP measure used by many investors and analysts to measure a real estate company's operating performance by removing the effect of items that do not reflect ongoing property operations. To calculate AFFO, we further adjust FFO for certain items that are not added to net income in NAREIT's definition of FFO, such as acquisition expenses, non-real estate-related depreciation and amortization (including amortization of lease incentives and tenant allowances), stock-based compensation expenses, and any other non-comparable or non-operating items, that do not relate to the operating performance of our properties. To calculate AFFO, we also adjust FFO to remove the effect of straight-line rent revenue, which represents the recognition of net unbilled rental income expected to be collected in future periods of a lease agreement that exceeds the actual contractual rent due periodically from tenants for their use of the leased real estate under each lease. Noncontrolling interest amounts represent adjustments to reflect only our share of straight line rent revenue.
Our calculation of AFFO may differ from the methodology used for calculating AFFO by certain other REITs and, accordingly, our AFFO may not be comparable to AFFO reported by other REITs. AFFO should not be considered as an alternative to net income (computed in accordance with GAAP) as an indicator of our financial performance or to cash flow from operating activities (computed in accordance with GAAP) as an indicator of our liquidity.
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/medequities-realty-trust-reports-first-quarter-2017-results-300453382.html

PubMed | Leiden University, University of Sydney, McRoberts, University of Marburg and German Center for Neurodegenerative DiseasesType: | Journal: Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews | Year: 2016

We analyzed features associated with a reduction in Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in people with idiopathic Parkinsons disease (PD). As a new approach, features were embedded in the WHO framework for measuring health and disability, the ICF model. From 609 articles screened, 114 articles were included. Features aligned with the ICFs body functions and structures domain (BFS) were investigated more often than personal features, activities of daily living, environmental factors, and participation in societal roles (95, 42, 35, 29 and 14 times, respectively). The strongest associations were found for the relationships between HRQoL and psychosocial functioning from the participation domain and HRQoL, and mobility limitations from the activities domain. For the BFS, non-motor symptoms were more closely associated with reduced HRQoL than motor symptoms. In conclusion, this systematic review (i) provides entirely new insights in the association of HRQoL with PD features, (ii) shows an imbalance between most extensively investigated and most relevant features for HRQoL, and (iii) demonstrates the usefulness of the ICF model for such an approach.

SAN FRANCISCO -- In the days before Hurricane Matthew, researchers used satellite maps of soil moisture to help forecast where the power would go out along the East Coast.
At the American Geophysical Union meeting this week, they report that their method worked with 91 percent accuracy.
The project aims to curtail outages by helping power companies allocate equipment and crews in advance of storms, said Steven Quiring, professor of atmospheric sciences at The Ohio State University.
Healthy trees that receive just the right amount of moisture are less prone to storm damage, he explained, so soil moisture is a good indicator of where outage crews will be needed.
"We see increased numbers of outages at both ends of the spectrum--wherever soils are too wet or too dry," Quiring said. "Drought makes tree branches more likely to snap off, and over-saturation makes trees more likely to be uprooted."
He cited a 2012 report from the Congressional Research Service that named severe weather as the single biggest cause of outages in the United States. More specifically, severe weather damage to vegetation is the biggest cause. Around 62 percent of the time, the report concluded, the power goes out because broken tree branches or falling trunks contact power lines.
For Hurricane Matthew, the researchers were able to forecast five days ahead of time that 4.5 million people would be without power in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. The actual number worked out to be around 4.1 million, so the researchers overestimated the extent of outages by around 9 percent.
NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite mission provided the data, which the researchers cross-referenced with population density, land use, average wind speed and the duration and intensity of storms to make their forecast model.
The team, which includes Seth Guikema at the University of Michigan and Brent McRoberts at Texas A&M, has been using a similar computer model--minus the NASA SMAP soil moisture measurements--to predict hurricane-caused power outages for about a decade. For instance, they correctly estimated that superstorm Sandy would knock out power for about 10 million people in 2012.
Quiring said the researchers are expanding the project to include outages caused by thunderstorms, winter storms and wind storms, which impact a much larger portion of the United States than hurricanes. They are already working with several power companies along the East Coast, and hope to form partnerships with companies in the Midwest and South next.
Outages cost the American economy as much as $33 billion annually, according to the President's Council of Economic Advisers and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability.
The DOE, the National Science Foundation and a private utility funded this research. Both the DOE and the Department of Homeland Security, among others, now use the team's forecasts to help plan responses to hurricanes.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Dec. 19, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Windstream (NASDAQ:WIN), a leading provider of advanced network communications, today announced that leading contact center solutions provider Empereon Marketing has selected Windstream to provide highly reliable, scalable and cost effective Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) and MPLS transport solutions.
Empereon Marketing provides “end-to-end” customer interaction solutions, including customer care, sales, technical support and help desk services, to customers across multiple industries, always delivering high-quality service to their client partners. The company has grown from 1,200 employees to more than 2,800 this year, and it also operates a debt collection division known as Constar Financial Services.
Windstream worked with long-time channel partner City Communications on the solution. The City Communications team has worked with Empereon for 15 years, and it helped identify Empereon’s requirements and worked with Windstream to design the CCaaS and MPLS solution. City Communications will also provide day-to-day technical support for Empereon.
Bryan McRoberts, chief information officer at Empereon Marketing, said the company made the decision to utilize Windstream’s solutions when it realized that its call center growth model needed to change if it wanted to keep up with the company’s fast-moving clients.
“Windstream’s hosted environment means we can not only address the growth in all of our existing call centers, but we can literally stand up brand new call centers incredibly fast,” McRoberts said. “We simply have to drop in a few redundant MPLS connections and we are up and running in a matter of weeks. As an example of this technology, we provisioned a brand new 1,200-seat call center in the span of less than six weeks, from start to finish. We don’t have to provision anything except our Cisco routers and SD WAN appliances; we literally just drop phones in and we are in business.”
Empereon Marketing selected Windstream’s CCaaS solution because it allows Empereon to only pay for those services the company is utilizing. Additionally, Windstream has the ability to offer both the cloud-based CCaaS solution and the underlying MPLS transport services at all of Empereon’s locations ranging from Arizona to Pennsylvania. Additionally, the transition to Windstream’s cloud-based services was simple and seamless for Empereon employees.
“I love that Windstream is essentially financing our growth with its ‘pay-as-you-grow’ cloud-based OPEX solution,” McRoberts added. “We love the ability to scale quickly and to use Windstream resources rather than have to build our own infrastructure. In many ways, Windstream has become an extension of my internal IT department, and without them we would not have been able to meet the aggressive ramp-up timelines required by some of our newest customers.”
Windstream’s CCaaS delivers cost-effective, flexible, scalable cloud-based contact center solutions. As a hosted service, CCaaS allows customers to keep pace with rapidly changing technologies and applications without up-front CAPEX costs. It also allows customers such as Empereon to create custom analytics reports to analyze interactions across multiple channels, providing data for more informed business decisions.
Windstream offers a full suite of advanced network communications and technology solutions, including voice and data services such as VoIP access, SIP trunking, MPLS and dedicated high-speed Internet. Windstream also offers managed services, cloud computing, disaster recovery and networking services designed to help businesses increase productivity and improve operational costs. For more information, visit windstreambusiness.com.
About Empereon Marketing, LLC
Founded in 1997, Empereon Marketing, LLC is a leading provider of contact center solutions specializing in multi-media, multi-channel, and customer-centric interactions. The company has excelled in achieving client goals, particularly in champion/challenger and pay-for-performance engagements. Empereon also is the parent company of Constar Financial Services, a full-service customer management and accounts receivable company. For more information, visit www.empereonmarketing.com.
About City Communications
Based in Phoenix, City Communications serves growing businesses with efficient, flexible, state-of-the-art telecom systems, including managed network, phones, Internet and cloud services. The company negotiates voice and data rates, coordinates and resolves time-consuming service and billing issues, and operates as a one-stop telecom and data information portal, giving one-click access to all things telecom and data. For more information, visit www.citycommunications.com.
About Windstream
Windstream Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:WIN), a FORTUNE 500 company, is a leading provider of advanced network communications and technology solutions for consumers, businesses, enterprise organizations and wholesale customers across the U.S. Windstream offers bundled services, including broadband, security solutions, voice and digital TV to consumers. The company also provides data, cloud solutions, unified communications and managed services to business and enterprise clients. The company supplies core transport solutions on a local and long-haul fiber network spanning approximately 129,000 miles. Additional information is available at windstream.com. Please visit our newsroom at news.windstream.com or follow us on Twitter at @Windstream.

A9 Introduction There is a need for prodromal markers to diagnose Parkinson's disease (PD) as early as possible. Knowing that most patients with overt PD have abnormal nocturnal movement patterns, we hypothesised that such changes might occur already in non-PD individuals with a potentially high risk for future development of the disease. Methods Eleven patients with early PD (Hoehn & Yahr stage ≤2.5), 13 healthy controls and 33 subjects with a high risk of developing PD (HR-PD) were investigated. HR-PD was defined by the occurrence of hyperechogenicity of the substantia nigra in combination with prodromal markers (eg, slight motor signs, olfactory dysfunction). A triaxial accelerometer was used to quantify nocturnal movements during two nights per study participant. Outcome measurements included mean acceleration, and qualitative axial movement parameters, such as duration and speed. Results Mean acceleration of nocturnal movements was lower in patients with PD compared to controls. Frequency and speed of axial movements did not differ between patients with PD and controls, but mean size and duration were lower in PD. The HR-PD group did not significantly differ from the control group in any of the parameters analysed. Conclusions Compared with controls, patients with PD had an overall decreased mean acceleration, as well as smaller and shorter nocturnal axial movements. These changes did not occur in our potential HR-PD individuals, suggesting that relevant axial movement alterations during sleep have either not developed or cannot be detected by the means applied in this at-risk cohort.

Contradictory findings have been reported in the literature on the impact that bronchial asthma may have on habitual physical activity. The present study was designed to compare physical activity, objectively measured with an activity monitor, between adults with bronchial asthma and apparently healthy controls. Valid registrations of physical activity were obtained in 226 patients with asthma and 201 healthy controls. A multiple general linear model was used to test between group differences and to correct for confounding of the results due to between group differences in BMI and employment status. In the patients, statistically significantly lower values were found for average steps/day (-1202; CI-1893 to-511; P=0.001), physical activity level based on an estimate of a persons total energy expenditure (-0.035; CI-0.067 to-0.003); P=0.034) and daily time (minutes) spent at vigorous intensive physical activity (-11; CI-17 to-1; P < 0.001). In addition, weak albeit significant correlations were found between measures of physical activity and asthma control. We conclude that bronchial asthma in adults is associated with a significant reduction in physical activity as compared to apparently healthy controls and is accompanied by a lower perceived health status. This is in support of the postulation of PA as potential pathway to better the outcome of care for these patients.